Call of Shadows - Book 1

Chapter 5

*Edited*

Phoenix

Of course she showed up on the doorstep. It was too late for her to go back to her house while this thing was out here, so she had to stay in the house. What made it even worse was it was the full moon tonight. My pack had to hunt.

Quincy, meet me in the living room please. I watched Rochella lead Lauren up to her room while I debated what the best course of action was. Soon all the mates of the wolves and the wolves themselves would be here, along with the pups of the pack. This was a major problem.

"Alpha." I briefly filled him in on the situation, his brow getting increasingly darker as I spoke. There was no denying neither of us were happy about how this turned out.

"I say we put her to sleep for the night. Arielle can put her into a deep dreamless sleep that she won't wake from until she releases her. She's safe here in the house for tonight, and let's be completely honest it's probably the safest place for her to be." I nodded and left him to call Arielle. I walked up to the guest room.

Knocking on the door gently, I opened it to reveal Lauren and Rochella talking.

"Hey, we have dinner ready if y'all want to get some." They both smiled at each other and headed down. A pang of sadness washed over me as I realized it wasn't me she felt comfortable with yet and that it was another member of the pack. Part of me knew Rochella was mated and this was just a friendship, but the other part of me - my wolf - was going crazy protective.

Rochella must've noticed this as she stepped away quickly and led the way back down the stairs. With Lauren following behind. I took a deep breath trying to center myself and my wolf from being even more possessive.

The smell of the food was amazing, and while my wolves would be feasting on this as well as the hunt from tonight, we would be well famished. Almost everyone was there, only Blaze and Blake were missing, but I knew they'd come as soon as they heard the word "food".

DINNER IS SERVED. Axel yelled through the mind link causing every person in the room to wince. I saw Lauren look around wondering why 12 people would flinch at the exact same time but she shook her head as though she didn't want to know.

Shut up, and don't yell in the mind link, we've talked about this before. Axel felt no remorse as Artemis reprimanded him in our minds. Soon everyone's plate was heaping with food, even Lauren's. She seemed content, not too scared of us yet. A few of the guys went into the living room to feast while the rest of us sat around the table.

"Man, Evelyn needs to make dinner every night, this is delicious." Quincy pronounced with his mouth full. Casual conversation started around the table after that, and I turned to Lauren who was sitting on my right.

"So, why did you come up here today, may I ask?" Her cheeks flushed red and her heartbeat quickened. I smiled inwardly knowing she had no clue I could hear her heartbeat.

"Well my friends they were talking about you and I was curious. They said you lived close to the woods and when I heard the news...something didn't feel right I guess, I'm not sure. I found myself on your doorstep as if by magic. I can't even remember why I was drawn to come here."

Y'all are so cute

Take it to another room love birds

You belong with me

Came rushing through the mind link from my pack.

Be quiet. I commanded and the mind link fell silent. I meant it jokingly but realized it had come off as more of a command.